miller



May 29, 1956 J. R. MILLER MOVABLE, TIL-TABLE, ADJUSTABLE MUD GUNS Filed Sept. 18, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

y 9, 1956 J. R. MILLER 2,747,858

MOVABLE, TILTABLE, ADJUSTABLE MUD GUNS Filed Sept. 18, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

May 29, 1956 J. R. MILLER MOVABLE, TILTABLE, ADJUSTABLE MUD GUNS ed Sept. 18, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 F'il II ll ll .|.L .1 L l 9" INVENTOR.

dud. Wm BY 7 13W Filed Sept. 18, 1952 y 9, 1956 J. R. MILLER 2,747,858

MOVABLE, TILTABLE, ADJUSTABLE MUD GUNS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Pate itO,

2,747,858 MOVABLE, TILTABLE, ADJUSTABLE MUD GUNS James Russell Miller, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to William M. Bailey Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 18, 1952, Serial No. 310,313 1 Claim. (Cl. 266 42) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in mud guns and more particularly to the mounting of a mud gun to render it serviceable for use on a supporting track traversing a multiple of furnaces in which the tap holes may be at different levels.

In conventional practice mud guns are mounted on wheeled carriages movable on tracks into and out of the tapping holes such as in blast furnaces to charge an adequate supply of soft clay to the tapping hole to close the hole after the metal has been tapped. Such guns are of sturdy construction and are designed to supply the necessary volume of clay under terrific pressure so that it can be delivered to the inside Wall of the furnace before it is set. The present invention does not deal with the details of the mud gun per se.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide a carriage which is adapted to be suspended from a track and which in turn supports the mud gun by a suspension which is controlled to guide the gun or the nozzle thereof as it is being advanced in the direction of the tapping hole and which shall embody in the suspension adjustable means for regulating the position of the nozzle to the location of the tapping hole.

The invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof, in which like reference characters designate like parts, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a mud gun and supporting carriage embodying the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, partially in section, of a mud gun and carriage located approximate to a furnace in alignment with a tapping hole and flow trough of the furnace, taken along the line 2-2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view, partially in crosssection, taken along the line 33, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a portion of the carriage frame showing a pair of cam tracks;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the carriage for supporting the mud gun;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a cross-section taken along the line 7-7, Fig. 5.

With reference to the several figures of the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the front wall of a melting furnace, 2 the tapping hole from which the metal is poured to a trough 3 and delivered to ladles or other receptacles. As shown in the dotted line construction beneath the tapping hole and trough 2 and 3, respectively, the tapping hole of adjacent furnaces may be at different levels so that a single gun may be capable of servicing all of the tapping holes. It must be constructed to be adjustable in the manner shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The gun itself is designated generally by the reference character 4. It is mounted on a carriage comprising a triangular frame 5 on which the gun is mounted by trunnions 6, the gun 4 being capable of being pivoted on the of the structure shown 2,747,858 Patented May 29, 1956 trunnions 6 and adjusted to any position by a link 7 pivotally mounted to the gun at 8 and having an adjusting screw 9 with a hand wheel 10. Link 7 is connected to a nut 11 that traverses the screw 9 when the latter is rotated by the-wheel :10 to raise and lower the nozzle 12 of the gun in relation to, the position of the tapping hole 2.

The gun as shown in the dotted lines at the left side of Fig. 2 when viewed from the bottom of the drawing, is normally in a horizontal position when not aligned with a tapping hole. This is eifected by mounting the triangular carriage Sin apair of cam tracks designated by the numerals 13 and -14 which are formed in the side frames 15 of the carriage support, as shown in Fig. 4, the carriage being. provided with flanged wheels 16 and 16', Figs. 5, 6 and 7, which ride in the cam tracks 13. The tracks 13 and 14 are provided with lugs 17 which are welded to the side frames 15.

The carriage frame 15 is provided with extensions 18 having journal bearings 19 for receiving a shaft 20, Fig. 2, having flanged wheels 21 that are supported on overhead rails 22 suitably mounted in a structural frame 23, shaft 20 being driven through a sprocket wheel 24, Fig. 2, by a motor 25 through a gear reduction 26 and a sprocket 27. It will be noted in Fig. 1 that wheel shaft 20 is driven by a sprocket wheel 24' connected by a chain as shown in the dot and dash lines to a wheel 24" mounted on the wheeled axle or shaft 20.

The carriage 5 is more clearly shown in Figs. 5 to 7, and is provided with a gear rack 28 that is engaged by a pinion 29, Fig. 3, driven through a gear reduction unit 30 by a motor 31, Fig. 1. When the pinion is actuated the carriage moves on its wheels 16, 16 in the tracks 13 and 14 to the horizontal or lower position as desired.

With reference to the gun structure which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it is in the form of a hollow cylinder that is charged with mud through an opening provided with a hinged cover 32, Fig. 2, having a lock 33. A motor driven ram, not shown, displaces the mud from the cylinder through the nozzle 12 into the tap hole 2. To seal the opening after the cast the motor 34, which drives the ram is mounted on the barrel of the gun and is geared through a reduction, designated by the numeral 35, to the ram, which is of a conventional construction and therefore no part of the present invention.

The operation of the above-described gun and carriage is as follows. The gun when loaded or charged with the mud for sealing the tap hole is in the horizontal position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawing. It is moved to the position in alignment with the tapping hole of one of a multiple of furnaces by energizing the motor 25, Fig. 1, and when in alignment with the tapping hole the gun is lowered by energizing motor 31 which drives the rack pinion 29 to move the carriage in its cam tracks 13 and 14. The gun per se may be pivoted on the trunnion support 6 to raise or lower the nozzle 12 for further alignment with the tapping hole by adjusting screw 9 through the hand wheel 10, as is clearly shown by the full and dotted lines of Fig. 2 of the drawing.

By means of the foregoing construction the mud gun is capable of servicing a multiple of melting furnaces such as electric melting furnaces which are constructed in rows. By using the rail suspension as shown in Fig. 2 and a suspension carriage as described, one gun may be maintained in almost continuous use between taps of a multiple of furnaces, thereby greatly reducing the cost of maintaining multiple guns, as is conventional practice as for example in blast furnace operation. It is apparent that guns of this type are of large size and are of expensive construction.

Although one embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction Without departing from the principles herein set forth.

I claim:

In a mud gun for sealing the tapping holes of multiple melting furnaces in which the tapping holes are arranged at varying vertical levels, an overhead support having spaced rails traversing the fronts of said multiple furnaces, said rails being disposed above the tapping holes, spaced axles having Wheels mounted on said rails for move ment on said rails, a carriage housing having laterally spaced extensions journallecl on said axles, said housing having a plurality of cam tracks, a gun carriage having wheels supported on said cam tracks and having a rack engaged by a gear journalled in said carriage housing for moving said gun carriage on said can: tracks in the direction of the tapping holes, a mud gun pivotally mounted on said gun carriage and having a link connected at one end adjacent the nozzle end of the gun and connected at its other end to an adjustable screw mounted on the gun carriage, said carriage housing having brackets for mounting independent motors and gear reducing mechanism to actuate respectively the carriage housing on its Wheeled axles to traverse the tapping hole side of the furnaces and to actuate the gun carriage in its forward and tilting movements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,013,153 Gerwig Jan. 2, 1912 1,143,243 Vogel June 15, 1915 1,622,574 Deady Mar. 29, 1927 1,726,069 Hopkins Aug. 27, 1929 1,852,561 Giese Apr. 5, 1932 1,881,473 Giese Oct. 11, 1932 2,437,486 Staiger Mar. 9, 1948 

